


The Aegis and the Keyblade I

by Agimat_AltoSax713



Series: The Aegis and The Keyblade [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games), Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Anyone ever notice how alike Rex and Sora are?, Gen, Multi, Other, Rex and Sora become fast friends., Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Spoilers, as the story goes on it will start to include stuff that Disney has in their monopoly, may or may not contain headcanons as the fic continues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28402155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agimat_AltoSax713/pseuds/Agimat_AltoSax713
Summary: When Pyra finds herself in a strange new world after the shadows attacked during the fight against Malos, her wish is to find Rex and go to Elysium. When Sora finds himself in a strange new world, his first thought is to look for his friends. Maybe together, they can achieve what they want. Together, they can defeat the shadows.
Relationships: Hikari | Mythra/Homura | Pyra/Nia/Rex, Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: The Aegis and The Keyblade [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2080158
Comments: 5
Kudos: 21





	1. Waking Up In A New World

**Author's Note:**

> Hoooo boy, this is another project I'm definitely nervous about. Compared to _My Former Life Is As A Thief_ , this fanfic is instead about two video games series that mean a lot to me. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is legit my favorite game of all time and Kingdom Hearts is honestly my childhood. I want to do these characters justice so yes, I will take as much criticism as necessary. I really do want this fanfiction to succeed. Now then, if you noticed the pairings, you'll know that I'm a sucker for (mostly) canon ships and thus, Sora and Kairi will be paired together. Meanwhile, Rex will eventually be in a poly relationship with Pyra, Mythra, and Nia. Note the term eventually. So sit back, relax, drink some tea as you start to read this silly little idea of mine.

“What do you know, ya big palooka!” A strange voice that was incredibly hard to understand spoke. One could almost describe it as if they were listening to a duck speak, or attempt to speak at least.

“Hm, what do I know?” That voice was a bit more silly and simple. This one more goofy in nature.

Those were the first words that Pyra, a red-haired girl in an almost sci-fi looking outfit heard. She took in a sudden and deep breath as her eyes shot open to see the night sky. This was her first time seeing night time, real physical night. She had seen it before in her sister’s memories. However, this wasn’t what she wanted. She was supposed to be in stasis for, hopefully, years on end. She was waiting to be released so she could go to Elysium. So she could finish her own goals for the future, accomplish what her sister wanted as well.

So why was Pyra looking at the night sky? She remembered a bit, she let that young boy, Rex, bond with her in an attempt to go to Elysium. He did so, Rex coming back to life when out of nowhere, black shadows started to surround them. They were separated afterwards, even though Rex was able to get out safely.

“I still need to see Father,” she admitted. However, that plan would be put on pause, especially since she was in an alleyway and- Wait a moment, there was something passing her. She watched as a yellow dog passed by her before barking, licking her face.

“Hey, down boy,” Pyra exclaimed with a laugh as the dog barked once again, running deeper into the alleyway. As she followed the dog, she saw a surprising sight was in front of her. A young boy, possibly around 14 if she had to assume, passed out on the streets. She approached him, cautiously.

“Hello?”

The dog, meanwhile, began licking his face, fully waking the young boy up. As his eyes fluttered open, his first sight was first the strange yellow dog and then the girl, seeming to be two years older than him, staring at him with a concerned look on her face. She was mature-looking, definitely. Someone who he wasn’t entirely sure he could just hang out with on Destiny Islands. Still, her face was scrunched up in concern.

“What...a dream…” Sora muttered out before looking at the girl. “Wait, who are you? Where are we?”

“Well, to answer your two questions: my name is Pyra and secondly, I don’t know where we are…” She looked around, a confused expression still on her face.

“Pyra, huh?” Sora smiled at her. “My name is Sora, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Well then Sora, we should probably look around this town, huh?” Pyra kept up her polite and demure smile. There was something about this boy that she found interesting. Was it his cheerful demeanor? From what she had gotten from Rex the short time that they knew each other, the two of them could be confused for brothers almost. The two of them walked out of the alleyway as the dog, possibly a stray, went off.

Sora looked around the town. From the first moment he came into the town, his eyes were filled with wonder. This was...

“This is another world!” Sora exclaimed.

Pyra looked over to him. “Another...world?” She slowly asked. She could recall some aspects of her creation and somehow, she had a thought that this was another world. However, it wasn't just _another_ world, not entirely.

“The proper term would be a planet,” Pyra muttered to herself.

“Huh?” Sora looked over to Pyra.

“Oh,” Pyra smiled at him sheepishly. “It's nothing. Come on, let's keep looking around.”

Pyra kept her distance from Sora however, but did notice an older woman. A _much_ older woman in skimpy attire, though it wasn't like she was one to judge, standing by a pillar, holding a cigarette. With swaying hips, she walked closer to Sora.

“Well, well, well little boy,” she said in a sensual voice, “is this your first time in Traverse Town?”

Now, Sora was young. He was much younger than Pyra, as far as he knew, and Riku was definitely older than him. However, even he knew that this woman's job wasn't exactly within the realms of legality. His and Riku's parents always told him to _never_ go to a certain section of the islands when they were younger, but he always looked at that section whenever they passed by. He saw some scantily clad women go out from the district and some more older gentlemen walk into that district. At one point, he could have sworn he had seen someone he recognized go inside of there. Sora didn't want to spend anymore time with this _seemingly_ nice lady, he didn't want to be an outcast from the rest of society like the Mayor's Brother. Whatever this woman did, it was illegal.

“No, no, it's fine!” Sora exclaimed.

“Oh come on little boy, it'll be fun.”

Pyra walked up to the woman. She also knew what this woman's main job was, one of the benefits to being a Blade was having rather _common_ information instilled in them. This was a woman of the streets and, Pyra, acting like an older sister, stepped forward.

“I'm sorry,” Pyra said. “We should be able to handle ourselves.”

“Oh,” the woman glared at Pyra. “So you think that just because-” The words that she could have said would never be heard however. As a scream was heard from the rest of the townsfolk, people began to race inside. Both Pyra and Sora's eyes widened as a strange creature, garbed almost a cartoony knight outfit appeared from almost the darkness itself. The creature raced toward the woman as she knocked into the floor.

With one swipe, all that remained was a heart as the woman began to disappear. A singular heart that slowly formed into a creature that blended into the shadows. A combination of fear and shock began to appear in Sora's eyes. Those were the same monsters that appeared in Destiny Island. The creatures eyed Sora and, acting entirely on instinct, they went to attack him.

“Sora!” Pyra yelled as she formed a shield around him.

She wasn't sure who Sora was, where exactly they were, or even what these creatures were. All she knew was that Sora was to be protected and that they were related to the creatures that had attacked the top of the Ancient Ship she was sealed away in. These were weaker however. She looked at the young boy, his eyes still wide with shock at what happened to the woman and what Pyra was doing.

“I'll handle this, you get inside!” Pyra yelled.

“Wait, what about you!?” Sora exclaimed, still in shock.

“I'll follow you!” Pyra said. She jumped back from the creatures, they were certainly weaker than the ones that had attacked the boat. Even then, she knew that these creatures were trouble and, if she had too, she would have to use her power to fight. A red blade, glimmering with emerald lights that were streaking along the sword, appeared in her hands. It activated, flames appearing across the sword. She looked around, working entirely on instinct and the desire to protect Sora as she went on the attack.

Flames erupted from the sword, thus engulfing these creatures in flames. Sora stared at Pyra, realizing that her skill in fighting was probably much, much greater than his own. She had the potential to control fire itself and, meanwhile, most of his training was done through toy swords. Oh, Sora did have some of the basics down, his father and Riku taught him as much, but only in terms of self-defense.

The creatures still honed in on him however, despite Pyra taking a good number of them out. They were attracted to him for some reason and Sora had all the reason to defend himself. That's when he pulled out his own sword, a strange weapon shaped like a skeleton key. Holding the strange weapon with yellow guard and the teeth looking just like a crown, Sora backed away, eyes darting as he began to defend himself from the monsters that invaded his home. For some reason, the weapon felt almost weightless, like he was still swinging his toy sword around. No, it wasn't like that at all, it was _easier_ than swinging his toy sword around. Unlike Pyra however, who moved as if she were dancing, Sora's movements were more clumsy and awkward.

The creatures began to diminish in number, Pyra looked over to Sora, her eyes widening.

“Sora, what are you holding?”

“I think it's called...” Sora muttered out he swiped his sword again, this time deflecting another one of those beasts as it disappeared into wisps of darkness. “A Keyblade.”

“A...Keyblade,” Pyra said to herself. She remembered seeing a weapon _like_ a Keyblade before, recalling the visage of the weapon during the Aegis War, one of the soldiers of Torna in fact, but she never had gotten a closer look at it. Her heart hurt as she recalled the memories and her mind raced with questions about the Keyblade. Did this “Sora” know anything about it? What was a Keyblade really? These questions would have to wait for later however as the monsters kept up their assault. Still, these creatures, as strong as they were, were easier to take out compared to the ones that had attacked the ship she was in. Pyra turned around to see Sora nearby a building.

“Get in! I'll follow you!”

Sora grabbed the knob and let out a sigh of relief as he darted inside.

“Hello, welcome to- Oh, it's just a kid,” a voice said. Sora looked at the man with a white t-shirt, jeans, and googles on his forehead standing behind a counter, a toothpick in his mouth and a grouchy attitude surrounding him.

“I'm not a kid!” Sora exclaimed. Sora was 14 now and his father had taught him how to catch fish a year ago. He still remembered that happy moment where his father gave Sora a proud smile, rubbing his back with as laughter filled the air.

“I'm a man now. My dad said so when he showed me how to fish!” Sora said. “If it's just some gramps here, then Pyra's in trouble!”

“Old!?” The elder gentleman said. “I'm not that old! Kid, if you ain't a customer, then get out of-”

The door swung open again as Pyra ran inside. The sound of scratching and banging were heard on the front of the door.

“I took care of some of them, but there's still a large number of them!” Pyra exclaimed.

“What the? Two kids!? Ugh...” The older man rummaged through the other side of the counter. “Where is it, where is it?”

Sora looked over to him. “What are you doing?”

“Got it. Yo, Red! Open the door!”

Pyra looked over to the older man. “Seriously? Right now?”

“No, in a week, _of course I mean right now!”_ Cid yelled as he shoved Pyra out of the way. Sora looked over to Cid, eyes widening as he noticed a stick of dynamite. A _lit_ stick of dynamite at that. Was this man insane?“Sorry about that, but these Heartless are the _relentless_ type of bastards!” With an expert throw, Cid threw the dynamite at the crowd of monsters as it exploded. He slammed the door shut as Sora saw the monster slam face-first into the window. Pyra stood up, eyes blinking as Cid crosses his arms, eyes closed in annoyance.

“I swear, those bastards get more and more numerous by the day,” he looked over to Sora and Pyra. “So, you both want some god damned tea? Shera gave me some tea bags to sell, but I can tell you two are new here, huh?”

Sora and Pyra simply numbly nodded in shock.

* * *

“So this is...Traverse Town,” Pyra said, drinking the tea that the older man brewed for the two of them as she and Sora sat down. After the shock of their first meeting, this older man seemed to be a lot more kind and patient with the two of them. If she had to guess, he was just rough around the edges, but still with a heart of gold.

“Yeah. Sorry for pushing you to the ground earlier Red,” the older man said, “Didn't want a pretty face like you to get caught in the explosion.”

“So gramps, is this another world then? I'm not on my islands anymore?” Sora said

“Or Alrest either?”

“Dunno what either of those places are, but yeah. They ain't. More importantly, _stop_ calling me gramps, kid! My name is Cid. Cid Highwind,” Cid told Sora.

“Oh, uh, sorry Mr. Highwind,” Sora awkwardly said.

“Heh, Mr. Highwind was my dad's name, call me Cid,” he said, smirking at Sora before looking over to Pyra. “You seem down on the dumps. Actually, both of ya look like that.”

“Well, I'm looking for someone. He's a bit short, probably around the same height as Sora. He was wearing a blue salvager suit the last time I saw him,” Pyra told Cid.

“And I'm looking for my friends. Their names were Riku and Kairi,” Sora added on.

“A kid in a...blue...salvager suit and some kids named Riku and Kairi, huh?” Cid rubbed his chin. “Well, if your friends are anywhere, they're around town, but right now, it looks like both of you need some rest. That Heartless wave was pretty crazy all things considered.”

“Do you happen to have a place for both of us to stay?” Pyra asked Cid.

“Well, there's a hotel in the Second District. I know some connections to get a free room for both of ya. It's probably the best place for both of ya right now, at least until you both get your bearings,” Cid told the two of them.

“That's great!” Sora exclaimed. “Though, I don't think I need to rest.” Immediately after saying those words, Sora began to yawn.

Pyra just laughed upon hearing Sora yawn while Cid just had a simple smile at these two kids actions. “Actually, I think you _do_ need some rest Sora. Those monsters were pretty tough, you know?”

“Anyways, if you kids need any help, talk to Cid. No way either of ya will be able to find your friends without some rest.”

“Thanks Cid!” Pyra exclaimed as she left with Sora.

“Stay safe, the both of ya!” Cid yelled out as he took the toothpick out and replaced it with a cigarette. He wasn't going to get any business yet and, if the dynamite worked, the streets should have been clear of Heartless. He needed a damn smoke break after all. His mind was racing with worry for the two of them and when he saw both Pyra and Sora, he knew that Sora was special. He was the _key_ to saving them all and getting their world back. With Pyra though? Cid called her a kid, she definitely looked like a kid, but there was something else about her.

Something that told him that there was something _very_ special about her. He just couldn't put a foot on it just yet.

As he walked to the back entrance, he lit his cigarette and began to take a huff before blowing it out. “Leon, you better go easy on the kid.” He took the cigarette out of his mouth, tapping it for a bit to let the ashes fall on the ground.

“And you better not get in too much trouble with that girl either. Something tells me she's stronger than she looks.”

* * *

As Pyra and Sora began walking out of the shop, Pyra looked over to Sora. “So, who are Riku and Kairi?”

“Oh? They're my best friends! Riku's the strongest person on the island. He always beats me whenever we fight with swords, but I won against him in our last race. Kairi, meanwhile, she always calls me a lazy bum, but I kinda laze around a bit too much.” Sora laughed before sighing. “We've been friends for the longest time now actually.”

“You have friends, that's good,” Pyra said.

“Yeah, we actually wanted to see different worlds,” Sora told Pyra. “That's why we built a raft.”

Pyra's eyebrow rose. “You were thinking of finding a different world through a...raft?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, back in the day, whenever someone wanted to explore a new world, they sailed the open seas with a ship,” Sora said. “Though, now that I think about it...”

“A raft wouldn't _exactly_ help you find a different world, but if you wanted to find, say, a different land...” Pyra admitted.

“So, who's the boy in the blue...uh...salvager suit?” Sora asked Pyra.

“His name is Rex. I... I asked him to take me to Elysium,” Pyra told him.

“...Elysium?”

“...It's where I was born,” Pyra told Sora before smiling at him. “I guess you can say I'm from a different world too.”

“Really?” Sora's eyes widened. “Do you remember anything about it?”

“Well, I can tell you most of the basics. I can tell you that Elysium is where humanity in our world first started before the Architect banished them, but taking pity on His children, He sent them Titans for them to live on. That's what they call Alrest,” Pyra told Sora. “Alrest is home to many people and they all live on the Titans who orbit the World Tree, which is where they say Elysium once was.”

“Uuuuh,” Sora just looked a bit confused at Pyra's world. “So, it's _kinda_ like my islands, but...instead of water, you guys are surrounded by...clouds and you live not on islands, but on these things called Titans?”

“In a nutshell, yes,” Pyra said, nodding.

“Huh. So, do you have any memories of Elysium then?”

Pyra sighed. “It was a lush place, humanity used to live there, but other than that...” She shook her head. “It's been a long time.”

“That's fine!” Sora smiled at Pyra. “When we find our friends, I'll help you get to Elysium too!”

Pyra smiled at Sora. “...Thank you.” That's when she felt an antagonistic presence beside them. Her eyes widened as she took out her sword swinging it at the lone monster that attempted to attack Sora and her.

“Wait, there's more of them?” Sora exclaimed as he took out the Keyblade.

For a few brief moments, both Pyra and Sora were ready to go on the offensive, but when it appeared there was no harm? They both relaxed.

“I think we're good,” Sora said with a sigh of relief. “Alright Pyra, let's-”

“Looks like there were some stragglers left,” a voice said. Both Pyra and Sora turned as they saw a man approach them wearing a black sleeveless jackson, a white t-shirt, and a necklace with a lion on top of the cross.

“They'll coming at you out of nowhere,” he said. “And they'll keep on coming at you. No matter where you go, no matter how far you run? They'll always find you.”

His blue eyes looked at both Sora and Pyra, analyzing both of them, trying to understand who these two were. More importantly, looking at the weapon that Sora was wielding.

“...As long as you keep holding that Keyblade.”


	2. What Is A Heartless?

Leon had heard about the Keyblade wielder from the grapevine and had gone to pick him up, to see if he was capable or not. It was his duty as the self-appointed head of Traverse Town to greet any newcomers and help get them settled after all. He helped a family of dogs settle in together in a house, though pitied them for losing a majority of their children, he assisted with setting up a shop for an elderly man and his two great-niece nearby the gardens, and gave a room for a strange white woman in a blue tank top with gray hair to set up a fitness studio. Each of them had lost their worlds, like he had ten years ago. To learn that the hope of the worlds was coming after so long gave him comfort.

He wasn't expecting this though. He wasn't expecting to see that the Keyblade wielder was a kid and he was accompanied by a teenager with red hair.

"Who...are you?" the red-haired girl asked him.

"There's more important things to talk about than my name," Leon told the red-haired girl. "Though..." He looked at the Keyblade wielder. "I can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?" the Keyblade wielder asked in an aggressive tone.

"Of all the people in the universe, it would choose a kid like you," Leon said.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Never mind. Let's see that Keyblade," he approached the Keyblade wielder in an attempt to look non-threatening. That approach failed as the wielder, the one who would save the worlds, backed away, still glaring at Leon. He was trying to look non-threatening, just his usual authoritarian style, but that seemed to have failed.

"No way! You're not getting this!" he exclaimed as he went on the offensive. Leon blocked the blow with his gunblade. He really didn't want to do this and he also didn't want to upset the girl who seemingly was incredibly skilled with her sword that, if word of mouth was to be believed, was on fire. He looked at the girl who approached the wielder.

"Sora, I don't think-"

Oh, at least this girl was smart.

"No way, this guy is weird or something!" the wielder exclaimed as he got into a fighting stance. "Let's go! One-on-one! Pyra, you look for help!"

Pyra and Sora huh? What a pair. Leon readied his gunblade and sighed. "Guess we're doing this then."

The boy went on the offensive, Pyra staying behind. She seemed to be more focused on Sora now, but was still looking at Leon. Her eyes stared at Leon's stance. Compared at Sora's rather erratic techniques of just wildly waving the sword around, which only kinda worked to his advantage as he sometimes parried off of Leon's attacks, Leon was taking things easy. With one hand in his pocket, Leon just waved the sword that seemed to be mixed with a gun around with relative ease. She watched as Sora was able to get a few good hits in, sometimes parrying his attack, but she also noticed that he was starting to get tired. Concern spread on his face as she realized that no matter what the result of this match-up? She'd need to get Sora to safety.

Leon wasn't nervous nor was he scared that he'd get that hurt. The scratches that the Keyblade wielder did hurt, but he didn't go all out on him. Even then, it was starting to mess with him a tiny bit, especially because he was getting a few good blows in.

 _'He was potential. Tons of it. However, he's clumsy, it's like the skill that he has with a sword is only on an island. Maybe he'd need to talk to the Wii Fit Trainer later about training his body,"_ Leon thought to himself as he readied the blow that would knock the boy out. He was somewhat nervous about the girl though, but she seemed more reasonable than Sora. They could at least talk and if Yuffie arrived, things would be easier.

Sora didn't let up though. He watched Leon readied a blow with enough force to bring him to his knees. Yeah! That would show him! This weirdo was really something and now, Sora beat this weirdo. What was he talking about with the Heartless constantly pursuing him as long as he held the Keyblade? Why did he want to see the Keyblade in the first place? Those questions raced in his head as he stood triumphant. Though, for some reason, he didn't feel as energetic as before, his body felt a bit...weird. Really weird in fact.

"That's right! Now you're gonna... Now you're gonna..." He took a step back from the weird guy. "Ugh..." He collapsed on the ground, the tiredness from earlier catching up with him. Pyra immediately ran to his side and knelt by him.

"Sora!" she exclaimed as she checked on him.

"He'll be fine..." Leon said, his knee still on the ground, still reeling from the clever blow. "He's not that skilled, but he has potential."

"...Yeah," Pyra looked at Leon. "Who are you though?"

"His name is Leon!" a girl in a green tank-top and short shorts exclaimed as she jumped down from the top of a building, an excitable grin on her face. "Though normally, he'd be a _lot_ better than this. Gotta say, if a kid beat you, that's kinda embarrassing."

"I went easy on him," Leon told the new arrival before looking at Pyra. "So, your name is Pyra, right? Are you from the same world as him?"

Pyra shook her head. "I don't think so. He described his world being made up of islands. My world isn't. We just met each other when we both arrived around the same time. I'm still trying to understand everything that's been going on to be honest."

Leon nodded. "Well, I'm going to bring him to the hotel." He looked over to Pyra.

"Are you coming?"

Pyra sighed. "I guess it's the best I could do. Especially if he's that exhausted… It looked like he needed rest, but then that Heartless showed up."

"They've gotten more active lately, probably because of him." Again, Leon looked at Sora before walking toward the Second District, carrying the young boy. Both Pyra and the new arrival looked at each other.

"So, who are you?" Pyra asked.

"Me? I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! Now come on! Squall will help you get settle, but that kid. He was the Keyblade."

With that sentence, Yuffie followed Leon. Pyra frowned, still concerned about Sora, but those eyes that Leon had? The look on Leon's face was not that of a foe, but rather someone who wielded authority in this town. Someone who was in charge of this place. All of that told her that, at the very least, she could trust Leon. In fact, he only fought to disarm Sora, not outright harm him. With a sigh, Pyra followed the two arrivals deeper into town.

* * *

Both a man with white hair, a gray mask, and a stoic expression was in a metal corridor, looking at the window with a focused and stoic expression on his face. This ship was now in some strange place floating in the middle of space, or at the very least, somewhere where the night sky never appeared. Nothing about this seemed familiar to any of them, but at the very least, they had survived.

"Those monsters…" the man muttered to himself before looking at an individual who appeared to be the same age walk toward him. With black hair, a widow's peak, and black armor, this man was obviously an individual with ill intent, and yet? There was sort of anger and frustration coming from him, not at the man with white hair, but at the situation that they had found themselves in.

"...Well?" the white-haired man asked.

"We're approaching something in the distance," the black-haired man said before crossing his arms and staring out into the night sky. "You know, those monsters… You recognize them too, don't you?"

"It's been years, I almost forgot who they were," he said. "The Heartless."

His hand went over his chest, eyes closed as he looked at his current form. The cursed _thing_ that he did all those years ago. A way for him to live together with _her_ and the worst part of it all?

She was missing now too. Even if he could still hear her voice in his head, even if he could still sense her presence, and he could feel her _heart_ beating in his body? That didn't mean anything. It just meant that he was alive and _she_ wasn't.

"Back during the Aegis War," the other man muttered to himself, "I actually took command of those creatures. Thought they were part of the wildlife of Alrest. Heh, they fulfilled our goal, but… I have a sneaking suspicion that some parts of our world are still around. Especially if the Monoceros is still running."

The masked man, formerly deep in thought, looked over to the other man clad in black as he continued to speak in a haughty, almost smug tone of voice.

"We all survived even then…" He shook his head. "But, I have a feeling that others from our neck-of-the-woods survived too."

"Probably. Do you think…"

The man clad in black interrupted the masked man in the middle of his sentence. "Call it a gut feeling, but I think the brat and my sister survived the destruction. Either way, we're running out of fuel and I don't think any of us want to be a sitting duck in the middle of space."

"Right," the masked man looked at his former enemy, now his closest companion. "I'll join you on the bridge Malos. Tell Mikhail to get in closer to that location. We have any fuel for that?"

"Yeah, we do… Take your time," the man in black, now identified as Malos, said.

The man took off his mask as he looked at the night sky. A singular thought filled his brain.

What do you do...when your world is destroyed, but you still remain? Death and destruction had happened across the world, but he still survived.

And yet… The man looked out the window again into the night sky. His plan, their plan, their _desire_ will still remain.

After all, what sort of miserable universe would allow them to live while countless others died? What sort of miserable universe allowed for the death of Lora, but he survived with all those memories still intact? No matter where they were or what they did, humans did what they always did.

The Heartless were just proof of that.

* * *

A young man with white hair, blue eyes, and a yellow t-shirt started to feel the ground beneath his feet, the air of the world around him, the rushing of water, the sight of a strange new location. He looked up in shock at what he saw. He had seen waterfalls before, but he had never seen waterfalls that flowed backwards. This was a new world. He did it. He opened up a path to a new world. He looked around, trying to find the most important people in his life.

And yet, it was empty.

There was nobody.

"Sora! Kairi!" The young man cried out.

He opened the door to find another world. Sure, there was a huge storm and creatures that appeared out of nowhere, but the important thing was getting to a new world! A raft would only take them so far. It was only logical that to get to a new world, one would need to go an easier and _better_ route than a dang raft.

That was why he opened the door.

However, he still wanted his friends. He was still a young teenager who cared about the people in his life.

"...Where are you?" he muttered out before he heard something strange. He looked upward as a metal ship began to land on the waterfalls that betrayed all sense of reality. However, the metal ship was something that he never saw before either. Only once or twice from other islands.

He looked to the side, finding a great castle above the rising falls and he ran toward it. He didn't want to be around whenever the occupants of the ship left. They could be enemies.

 _'...Welcome to a new world Riku,'_ he thought to himself.

As the castle loomed in the distance, as the stage was set, a woman in black robes looked at the new arrivals and simply smirked.

There was a lot of darkness within their hearts.

* * *

"Come on lazy bum! Wake up!"

As Sora came too, he could swear he could hear a familiar voice. A voice that made his heart swell with hope. She was here! She made it out of the islands safe and sound! His eyes wandered over to the red-haired girl with a white shirt right next to him and he could feel the relief overwhelming his heart.

"You okay?"

"I… I guess…" He looked over to the girl with a wide smile.

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade," Kairi told him, still looking at Sora, "but it's your heart they really want because you wield the Keyblade."

Sora looked confused at what Kairi was saying. Those were words that she had never said to him. In fact, this whole situation made his head spin, and yet? He was happy. She was safe. Kairi was safe.

"I don't get what you're saying, but… I'm glad you're okay Kairi."

"Kairi?" her voice changed. "Who's Kairi? I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

"Huh!?" Sora shook the confusion and sleep out of his eyes as he realized the person who was really in front of him. It was the same girl he could hear from earlier. A girl that barely looked like Kairi at all.

"Sora, are… Are you okay?" He could hear a voice near him as he noticed Pyra looking over him with a concerned expression on her face. "You didn't get hurt too bad, did you?"

"Pyra, what are you-"

"I think you _might_ have overdone it, Squall," Yuffie said. "Seriously, I might be a Great Ninja, but even I know how to hold back my attacks."

"...I told you before," Sora looked to the side to see the man who attacked him and Pyra leaning against the wall. For a moment, he looked cautious, ready for the next attack he would bring to him, but then he looked at Pyra.

"He's not dangerous. He's actually the person who is in charge of this town. Helps everyone get on their feet. It's Leon, right?"

"Pyra's correct, my name's _Leon,_ not Squall," Leon said. He looked at his friend and the two new arrivals, arms crossed.

As Sora looked around the room, his eyes caught the weapon that he was wielding just a few minutes before.

"That's the Keyblade, isn't it?"

"Yup," Yuffie said as she walked over to Leon. "We had to take it away from you to shake off those creatures."

"...You said before…" Pyra asked Leon, "that they'll keep hunting Sora as long as he holds that weapon right?"

"It's how they track you. That's why they won't stop attacking you," Yuffie told him.

Sora looked at the Keyblade, his eyes widening in shock. It explained everything now. The creatures that attacked him on the island grew even more active once he obtained the Keyblade. Their eyes, once just focused on whatever they could find, had suddenly focused on Sora.

"It's the only way that we could conceal your heart from them," Leon told Sora. "It was a struggle to get it off you though and it's only temporary. It's...got something of a mind of its own." He picked up the Keyblade before giving it a few swings. The Keyblade disappeared in a flash of light before it reappeared in Sora's hands just as if it had never left.

"It's hard to believe that the chosen one would be some kid," Leon muttered out.

Sora looked at Leon, a frown appearing on his face. "What's that supposed to mean? I just know that I woke up and I saw Pyra…" He looked over to Pyra, still in thought.

"So, why did they attack me then? I don't hold the Keyblade?" Pyra asked. Again, she looked at the weapon, still trying to recall the times she had seen it. This one was much more simple than the one she had seen years ago, but she could feel it. There was power flowing from the Keyblade. It was like the Keyblade _knew_ that Sora wasn't as trained, just knew the basics. It made up for that in spades she guessed.

"If I had to guess? You were nearby him," Yuffie told Pyra. "Normally, anyone without the Keyblade would probably just have bad luck if they ran into a Heartless, but being around a Keyblade wielder makes those chances bigger."

"Well," Pyra smiled at Sora, "at least when I'm with Sora, we can protect each other, right?"

"Yeah! That's right, but I still don't get it. Those creatures that attacked me…and what happened to my island…" Sora looked at Leon and Yuffie. "What are they?"

"Well… To begin with, I'm pretty sure you both know that there are different worlds," Leon told the two of them. "It used to be that they were a secret from each other, but that all changed when the Heartless attacked."

"The...Heartless?" Pyra muttered to herself. She tried to recall her memories, her memories and her sister's memories as her eyes widened in shock. She stood up, now recognizing the creatures that had appeared to attack them. The creatures that attacked them on the ancient ship, on the streets, and, more importantly, 500 years ago.

"I think I've seen them before! There wasn't a lot back then…"

Leon looked over to Pyra. "Well… I guess you're one of the few people who knew about them. Do you know anything about them?"

"…" Pyra frowned as she began to rack her brain. "I know...that they took part in a war 500 years ago in my world. They followed the command of one of the...people we fought against in the war. His name...was Malos." She looked at Leon, Yuffie, and Sora with a serious expression on her face. She had never thought she would see those creatures again, especially after Malos disappeared.

"They… They're darkness," Pyra said.

"That's right," Leon nodded as he looked at Sora. "They're creatures at their base form, creatures who desire hearts…"

"Or to be more specific, the darkness within hearts and there's darkness within every heart," Yuffie told them.

"...That's what happened to that woman form earlier," Pyra muttered. "When she was attacked by that Heartless…"

Sora's eyes widened as his mind started to replay that image over-and-over in his head. The Heartless attacked her, desiring her heart, and it had ripped it out of her body. She was in pain, in terror as her heart was taken away from her.

"Is there anyway for us to stop them!?" Sora exclaimed.

Pyra frowned before sighing. "Well… I don't know for sure. They'll always keep coming…" Again, she remembered the creatures that Malos commanded as they attacked Auresco, attacking the soldiers of Torna and civilians alike. They weren't easy to defeat, especially when they combined with the Artifices under his command.

"There's only one man who knew the most about the Heartless," Yuffie told them. "His name was Ansem."

Pyra looked over to Yuffie. "...Ansem?"

"He studied the Heartless, compiling his findings into some...reports or something," Yuffie told the two of them.

"But those pages were scattered everywhere. Nobody knows where they ended up…" Leon told the two of them.

"So, if we find them… We can learn more about taking down Heartless, right?" Pyra asked.

"It's possible, but whenever someone like you or I fight a Heartless, they just pop back again. I mean, we've fought against them many times, Squall and I-"

"It's Leon," Leon corrected Yuffie.

"Yeah, whatever. So while fighting them is possible, they just pop back up in a new place. If you want to get of them entirely…" Everyone's eyes landed on Sora's Keyblade.

"The Keyblade…" Pyra said.

Leon nodded. "Yeah, the Keyblade is the key to taking down the Heartless… They're scared of it and that's why they will keep coming after you…"

Once again, Sora thought about the time he got the Keyblade. He still felt the scratches as they began to attack him. He wasn't scared of them, especially because they fell rather easily to his Keyblade when he fought them, but the fact that they attacked him as _soon_ as he held the Keyblade made his stomach churn.

"I… I didn't ask for this though," Sora muttered.

"Oh Sora…" Pyra said, looking at him with pity in her eyes. She could see someone who was nervous, terrified of this _duty_ that was now thrust in his hands.

"The Keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you!" Yuffie told Sora.

"...So… Tough luck."

Sora immediately didn't like Leon's attitude. It was rude, not even caring that Sora didn't want all of this to happen to him. "But… How did this all happen? I was...in my room…" Sora's eyes widened as he came to a realization again. "Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My parents? The islands? Riku! Kairi! I still need to find them!"

"...And I need to find Rex," Pyra quickly added.

"And hopefully, we can get you to Elysium," Sora added on.

"…" Leon sighed. This was the toughest part of being the de-facto head of Traverse Town. Even now, he was thinking about that family of dogs that had appeared in Traverse Town, or rather, the parents of the family of dogs, all 101 of them. However, the harshest and most brutal part of the reality of the situation had quickly been cut off by the arrival of the Heartless.

A quick shuriken from Yuffie ended the threat right then and there, but the fact that the Heartless had come so quickly made Leon's worries grow.

"Sora, right?" Leon turned to face him. "We'll have to talk later, but… If anything, I believe you can find your friends. You too Pyra."

Sora looked at the Keyblade, thought about the intensity of the situation, and as his heart was racing, he knew it in his heart that this was his best chance. Taking care of the Heartless threat in this world would be his first step to finding Riku and Kairi as well as finding Rex and getting Pyra to Elysium.

"Yuffie! Make sure the rest of the hotel is safe along with Aerith! Sora, Pyra, you both need to find the leader of the Heartless. Don't bother with the small fry!" Leon said as he directed the three of them. They nodded in response as Yuffie burst out of the room and Leon leapt out of the window.

Sora and Pyra followed him afterwards as they split off from him. Both of them turned to see a few more of the Heartless, some looking like knights and others like the shadows. They turned to face two of them as Sora and Pyra readied their weapons to face the threat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely proud of this chapter, especially since a major part of it is exposition, but the next chapter will have some action. This was mostly to get the plot rolling. Hope you all enjoyed and, again, wear a mask when going places.

**Author's Note:**

> So, some stuff to note? Yes, prostitution is canon to Kingdom Hearts. In the manga, Sora met a prostitute and her heart was stolen by a heartless. So yes, sex _exists within the Kingdom Hearts canon._ More importantly, it is implied that sex slavery is a thing in Alrest, Zeke even mentioned it when he and Pandoria was saved by Amalthus. And the main character designer of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had his start in _hentai_. So to note, _sex exists within Xenoblade._
> 
> Now that _that_ weird tangent is out of the way, I know that people probably noticed Cid's characterization in this fanfic has taken some inspiration from his characterization in Team Four Star's _Final Fantasy 7 Machinabridged._ To be frank, I'm just _now_ playing Final Fantasy 7 and other than that, Kingdom Hearts, and The World Ends With You? I'm _not_ as into Square Enix as some of the other members of the Kingdom Hearts fandom. 
> 
> I love KH for the Disney stuff, so the Disney stuff will be slightly more prevalent here. :P 
> 
> I will still write the Square Enix characters to the best of my ability from their portrayal in Kingdom Hearts and what _I_ think fits from my experience watching FF7 Machinabridged (so don't worry about Cloud being a Butt Monkey here or Tifa being a bitch when I get to KH2), but please do _not_ expect characters from Final Fantasy, or games like Bravely Default or heck, even Dragon Quest, until I _actually play them._ (And to note, I will eventually play them. I am super curious about these games.)


End file.
